Pilot Sophie Hastings was one of five people who died when two light planes crashed near Coventry Airport on 17 August, 2008.

Miss Hastings, 28, from Hilton, in Derbyshire, was at the controls of a Cessna with three passengers on board which was in collision with the other aircraft, a small kit plane piloted by Brian Normington . Her crew included fellow flyer James Beagley , ground operations director Sybille Gautrey and engineer Harvey Antrobus .

Witnesses at the scene told how Miss Hastings bravely took her doomed aircraft into a steep turn when she realised it was heading for houses.

The houses which Miss Hastings steered her damaged plane away from are in an area called Binley Woods.

Councillor Linda Harbour, of Binley Woods Parish Council, paid tribute to her bravery.

She said: "Anybody that has prevented more loss of life has got to be heroic. You can't fail to admire her. You can't thank somebody enough who has done that. How somebody keeps their head in that situation is beyond understanding.

"It's not a situation you want to imagine yourself in. I know she would have been trained and that part of her training would have been to deal with situations like that, but when it actually happens it's different. I feel for her partner. Those were real planes with real people in them, not just something you see in the sky. It's so real."

Her partner, Paul Jones’ father, Martin Jones, owns Derby Airfield in Egginton, where Miss Hastings used to work as a flying instructor.

One man she helped to teach to fly is Bafta award-wining playwright Don Shaw, from Mickleover in Derby.

Mr Shaw said that he was overcome with shock when he heard about the accident.

He said: "Sophie was the most wonderful and caring person you could have hoped to meet. She was a brilliant pilot and was such a nice person to know. She was kind and gentle and was genuinely one if the nicest people have ever known."

Miss Hastings was on a routine flight with her colleagues taking an aerial survey for the company Reconnaissance Ventures, based at Coventry Airport, at the time of the accident.

Mr Shaw said that he had spoken to the Jones family and given them his condolences about her death.

He said: "Sophie genuinely died doing the job that she loved. I remember she had taken a law degree but decided to go into flying rather than law because she wanted to become a commercial pilot.

"My heart goes out to her family."

A neighbour of Miss Hastings said: "I knew that they both flew because they had given me aerial photographs of our street.

"To hear that she was one of the people who died in this terrible accident is awful. I wish Mr Jones and all of the family my dearest condolences."